Newham Independent and Green group councillors have so far refused to take part in Forhad Hussain’s scheme as all eight neighbourhoods are to be led by Labour members, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter

Newham Town Hall and (inset) mayor Forhad Hussain

Newham’s Labour mayor has pleaded with opposition councillors to end their boycott of his new ‘community neighbourhood’ meetings.

Mayor Forhad Hussain says the eight community neighbourhoods will bring together councillors, services and local organisations to inform his decision making.

But opposition Newham Independent and Green councillors have so far refused to take part as all eight are to be led by Labour.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (15th), Hussain called on them to “have a go at this” for a six month trial.

He said: “Let’s collaborate with everyone for six months. After that, if you’re still not comfortable, we’ll have that conversation.”

Labour cabinet councillors endorsed Hussain’s plan to launch eight community neighbourhoods in Stratford and West Ham, Forest Gate, Manor Park, Green Street, Plaistow, East Ham, Beckton and Royal Docks, and Custom House and Canning Town.

Proposals say they will gather feedback from residents and improve co-operation between the council and community, voluntary and faith organisations, and other local services.

They will then feed recommendations and advice back to Hussain, through councillors he has appointed to lead them known as “lead members”.

All eight lead members will be Labour councillors – even in neighbourhood areas predominantly represented by the Newham Independents or Greens. Opposition councillors have argued against this.

Newham Independent councillor Sophia Naqvi told the cabinet that lead members should be appointed from all political parties. She said this was because local elections in May left no single group with a majority.

Cllr Naqvi said: “Residents have chosen a different council to represent them. You can’t appoint a lead member from a Labour ward to, maybe, a Green ward.”

Speaking at a meeting held to scrutinise the proposals earlier this month, Green councillor Nate Higgins asked how community neighbourhood members could be held accountable.

Unlike other council meetings and committees, their meetings have so far been held out of public view.

Cllr Higgins said: “The meetings we’ve had so far are in private. Do people even know who these people are? What does accountability look like?”

Hussain told the cabinet the community neighbourhoods scheme was a “devolution of power” to ward councillors and was “really empowering residents to make that change”.

He added that he would “personally get involved if I see any politics happening”.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that the Newham Independents group will continue to boycott the community neighbourhoods, while the Greens are considering their approach.

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